Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has set a deadline for introducing a comprehensive remuneration and conditions framework set for implementation from October 2026 for public service interpreters.

The Ministry of Justice has provided a comprehensive response to the Public Services Committee inquiry and report into interpreter and translation services in the courts, published in June 2025, which covers this topic.

The Ministry of Justice is procuring new interpreter contracts to commence in October 2026, which include improvements to the service, interpreter remuneration, and conditions.

The Department considered mandating payment rates for interpreters during market engagement but concluded that suppliers (as experts in the market) are best placed to set payment rates. The Ministry of Justice’s role, as the commissioning body, is to ensure that these rates are fair and deliver value for money to the taxpayer.

The Ministry of Justice has already taken steps to improve interpreter remuneration, such as increasing the minimum face to face booking duration to two hours in October 2024, which has led to improved contract fulfilment rates and a reduction in off contract requests.

From October 2026, the new contracts will introduce improvements to interpreter remuneration and conditions. This includes:

• Strengthening safeguarding provisions to support interpreter wellbeing

• Changing the cancellation cut-off time meaning more cancellations will fall into the ‘short notice’ category and attract a fee payable to interpreters

• Maintaining the two-hour minimum booking duration